Multimedia-Enabled 911: Exploring 911 Callers’ Experience of Call Taker Controlled Video Calling in Simulated Emergencies

Emergency response to large-scale disasters is often supported with multimedia from social media. However, while these features are common in everyday video calls, the complex needs of 911 and other systems make it difficult to directly incorporate these features. We assess an ME911 (Multimedia-Enabled 911) app to understand how the design will need to deviate from common norms and how callers will respond to those non-standard choices. We expand the role of 911 call taker control over emergency situations to the calling interface while incorporating key features like map-based location finding. Participants’ experiences in mock emergencies show the non-standard design helps callers in the unfamiliar setting of emergency calling yet it also causes confusion and delays. We find the need for emergency-specific deviations from design norms is supported by participant feedback. We discuss how broader system changes will support callers to use these non-standard designs during emergencies.